Renewables and Alternative Energy

Renewable sources of energy, including wind, solar and biomass, offer a low-carbon alternative to traditional fossil fuels. What policies is China implementing to develop the potential of “renewables?”

With the U.S. release of its proposal for the international climate negotiations and proposals expected soon from other countries, the negotiations are intensifying. A key factor in this dynamic is China’s November commitment to peak its emissions and scale up non-fossil energy, which has shifted the global debate on climate action. China is already taking action on multiple fronts to meet its new goals.

For many years, Chinese regulators have learned about nuclear safety from working with the United States, but nuclear safety cooperation is becoming increasingly a two-way street. Nuclear energy could play a significant role in meeting China’s new climate goals stated in its November 11th, 2014 joint announcement with the U.S. This includes targets to peak its carbon dioxide emissions around 2030—with the intention to do so sooner—and to raise the non-fossil fuel share of energy use to around 20 percent by that date. The U.S. and China are working together to ensure attention to safety considerations in China’s projected expansion of nuclear power.

Drawing on preliminary energy demand data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, Bloomberg New Energy Finance has estimated that China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 2 percent last year, the first reduction in over a decade. Other reports indicate China’s coal consumption also declined, by 2.9 percent, in 2014; and the share of non-fossil energy in China’s energy consumption rose last year, while coal fell as a percentage of the country’s energy mix. According to the International Energy Agency, even as the global economy grew by 3%, global energy-related carbon emissions did not rise in 2014, due to shifts in energy use in China and OECD countries.

The U.S.-China joint announcement on climate change is an historic milestone to limit carbon pollution. This agreement between the world’s two top economies, which together emit nearly 45 percent of the planet’s carbon pollution1, is a big deal.

ChinaFAQs expert Angel Hsu and her team at Yale’s Environmental Performance Measurement program have developed an interactive timeline that lays out the steps China is expected to take in developing, enacting and implementing its next Five Year Plan, which will orient the country’s economic and social policy. The 13th Five Year Plan will be announced in early 2016 and will be in place until the 14th Five Year Plan in 2021. The timeline provides details on dates, procedure, and stakeholder involvement for each stage of the process. Past plans have set targets relating to energy and carbon intensity, coal and energy consumption, energy efficiency, and clean energy development. The upcoming 13th Five Year Plan is likely to include additional measures to bend the curve of China’s greenhouse gas emissions downward, and will provide insight into how China will strive to meet its new climate targets for 2030.

ChinaFAQs expert Dan Kammen describes the implications of the U.S.-China climate accord for the international climate negotiations and for each country. Kammen emphasizes the necessity of clean technologies for China’s continued economic growth, and recommends that both countries pursue innovation regarding their electrical grids and scale up regional carbon pricing policies.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz recently announced plans for a Business Development Mission to China in April, intended to promote U.S. companies’ business in clean energy in China and to bolster U.S.-China clean energy collaboration. The delegation will include representatives from U.S. industries advancing “Smart Cities” and “Smart Growth”.

Q: What did the U.S. and China pledge in their November 11, 2014 joint announcement on climate change?

Q: Is it true that under its new pledges, China might avoid doing anything to address climate change until 2030?A: No. China will need to take stronger near-term action to meet its commitments and has begun to do so.

Q: Is China starting from scratch in trying to fulfill its pledges, or has it already taken steps in this direction?A: China is already taking action on multiple fronts to address the climate problem.

Q: Do we have reason to believe that China will follow through on its pledges?A: Yes. China has already made progress on the low carbon building blocks and has strong reasons of national interest to build on its current efforts.

Q: Does it make sense for the U.S. to pursue vigorous action on climate change given China’s commitments?A: Yes. China is now at a turning point regarding air quality and climate action, and the two countries can inspire each other and the world to take ambitious steps.

And that’s the signal out of Beijing from yesterday’s summit between President Obama and President Xi Jinping. President Obama pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. President Xi announced targets to peak carbon dioxide emissions around 2030—with the intention to peak sooner—and to increase China’s non-fossil fuel share of energy to around 20 percent by 2030. Next steps will be important, but this accord signals a significant move forward for climate action—in the United States, in China, and internationally.

The Long March was a watershed moment in Chinese history—the moment Mao Zedong’s nascent Communist Party escaped disaster in 1934 en route to forming a new nation. Fast forward 80 years, and China is poised to embark on a new Long March – but this time away from climate change and environmental damage toward a sustainable future.

China has been experimenting with many different policies to control carbon and energy intensity

By updating building codes to international best practices, China could save in 20 years an equivalent of the amount of CO2 that would be emitted by 15 large coal fired power plants over 20 years.

If China continues to improve fuel efficiency standards at its current rate, it will save the equivalent of the amount of CO2 that would be emitted by 10 large coal fired power plants over 20 years.

By expanding from pilots to a national level policy, the use of environmental priorities in selecting what electricity sources to use to respond to increased demand could significantly reduce coal use in the power sector.

Currently, China gets about 9%
of its total primary energy from
non-fossil sources. Official
targets aim to increase the
share of primary energy from
non-fossil sources to at least
11.4% in 2015 and 15% in 2020.

Hydropower: China currently
has the largest hydropower
capacity in the world, with about
229 gigawatts (GW) currently,
and a target of 290 GW for 2015.

Wind Power: China ranks 1st
in the world in installed wind
power capacity, with about 89
GW. China is also the world’s
fastest-growing installer of wind,
and it aims to have 100 GW of
wind installed by 2015.

Solar: China is also attempting
to dramatically scale up solar
power, planning to have at least
35 GW of installed solar by 2015,
and currently has around 19 GW
installed.

Investment: China was
the number one investor in
renewable energy in 2013,
accounting for nearly a fifth of
global investment.

One year ago, the United States and China declared in their Joint Statement on Climate Change that “forceful, nationally appropriate action by the United States and China—including large-scale cooperative action—is more critical than ever. Such action is crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world.”

Amidst headlines detailing off-the-charts air pollution in Beijing, it may come as a surprise that China’s latest environmental scorecard does boast bright spots. The 2014 Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – a biennial global ranking of how well countries perform on a range of critical environmental issues – ranks China at 118 out of 178 countries. With respect to other emerging economies with rapid growth and development, China does not fare as well overall as Brazil (77th), Russia (73rd), or South Africa (72th), but is considerably ahead of India, which ranked 155th. However, China is a leader in addressing climate change and is taking corrective action to address weaknesses.

China has recently announced a plan to tackle air pollution across the country. The plan includes setting regional targets on coal use and taking high-polluting vehicles from the streets. The plan also sets target levels for regional atmospheric pollution, with particular attention paid to reducing particulate matter, which is an especially severe problem in China.

China is attempting to dramatically increase the country’s renewable energy supply by 2015. Recently released data shows that China made progress towards reaching this goal in 2012. China continues to make large investments in renewable energy, with over 80% more investment than the U.S. last year. China remains the country with the world’s most installed wind capacity, and it is neck and neck with the U.S. in terms of installed solar PV capacity.

Currently, China gets about 8%
of its total primary energy from
renewable sources. Official
targets aim to increase the
share of primary energy from
non-fossil sources to at least
11.4% in 2015 and 15% in 2020.1

Hydropower: China currently
has the largest hydropower
capacity in the world, with about
229 gigawatts (GW) currently,
and a target of 290 GW for 2015.

Wind Power: China ranks 1st
in the world in installed wind
power capacity, with about 75
GW. China is also the world’s
fastest-growing installer of wind,
and it aims to have 100 GW of
wind installed by 2015.2

Solar: China is also attempting
to dramatically scale up solar
power, planning to have at least
35 GW of installed solar by 2015,
and currently has around 7.5 GW
installed.

Investment: China was
the number one investor in
renewable energy in 2012,
accounting for nearly a quarter of
global investment

It’s well-known that China ranks first in the world in attracting clean energy investment, receiving US$ 65.1 billion in 2012. But new analysis from WRI shows another side to this story: China is increasingly becoming a global force in international clean energy investment, too.

Trade negotiations between the European Union and China regarding solar panels have hit a bump in the road, as the European trade commissioner complained about Chinese pressure on individual EU nations that he said was designed to prevent Europe from reaching a consensus.

Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed a remarkable period of economic and human development: More than 2 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water; life expectancy has increased by approximately five years; more children are going to s

Leading China experts and top media representatives participated in a ChinaFAQs press call today on how the country will address pressing environmental, climate and energy challenges at home and globally in the coming years. At the National People’s Congress beginning March 5, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are expected to formally become China’s president and premier, respectively. Other top spots in China’s ministries will also be assigned, with implications for China’s future of low-carbon development and for the U.S. The briefing was one of ChinaFAQs’ events highlighting the reasons for China’s action on low-carbon energy, including: energy security, economic competitiveness through technological innovation, and climate and environmental impacts.

As China continues its leadership transition next week at the National People’s Congress, many are wondering how the country will confront its pressing environmental, climate, and energy challenges. On Friday, March 1 at 9 a.m. EST, WRI’s ChinaFAQs network will bring together leading experts for a press teleconference to discuss these issues.

As the biggest coal-consuming and coal-producing nation in the world, China is perhaps an unlikely place to find a burgeoning wind power industry. Yet today China is the biggest wind power market in the world and builds almost all its wind turbines at home. China’s wind power capacity has increased over a hundredfold in the past decade (from 344 MW in 2000 to 44,733 MW in 2010) and estimates for 2012 put installed wind capacity at about 80 GW (see Figure 1). Just a decade ago the country had only a handful of wind turbines in operation—all imported from Europe and the United States.

On Dec 6, 2012, the Ministry of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China (MLR) published a list of winners of the second auction for shale gas exploration rights. For each block auctioned three potential winners were given, listed in order of priority for exploration rights for that block.

The latest International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2012 re-confirms the dangerous path the world is on–a path of increasing dependence on coal, which carries serious environmental risks for people and the planet. According to the report, the world will burn 1.2 billion metric tons more coal per year by 2017 compared to today, surpassing oil as the world’s top energy source.

Last Friday, experts from the ChinaFAQs Network and top media representatives participated on a press call on climate and energy policy under China’s incoming president, Xi Jinping, and other new leaders. The participants focused on the drivers underlying China’s energy and climate policies and actions. Key issues included whether the country can sustain its renewable energy growth, confront rising coal demand, and follow through on its climate change targets in the 12th five-year plan. All of these issues are emerging as the country faces its first major economic slowdown in more than a decade. This blog post highlights experts’ discussion during the press call.

When it comes to coal consumption, no other nation comes close to China. The country reigns as the world’s largest coal user, burning almost half of the global total each year. About 70 percent of China’s total energy consumption and nearly 80 percent of its electricity production come from coal, and its recent shift from being a historical net coal exporter to the world’s largest net coal importer took only three years.

China’s great thirst for coal is undeniably troubling from a sustainable development standpoint. However, the situation may be changing…

On October 12, ChinaFAQs and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing on Capitol Hill about the issues driving China’s renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate policies. While China and the United States differ in important respects, they have some similar challenges and opportunities relating to energy. Both face economic, employment, energy security, and environmental challenges. The United States and China both cooperate and compete with each other on clean energy initiatives and technology.

Presentation by Stephen Munro, Policy and International Analyst, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, given at a Congressional briefing “Why China Is Acting on Clean Energy: Successes, Challenges, and Implications for U.S. Policies”, Washington, D.C., October 12, 2012.

Presentation by Joanna Lewis, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and International Affairs, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, given at a Congressional briefing “Why China Is Acting on Clean Energy: Successes, Challenges, and Implications for U.S. Policies”, Washington, D.C., October 12, 2012.

The US department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission have commenced proceedings in trade cases regarding imports of solar cells and other clean energy products from China. The matter is now progressing through the official process for handling such international trade cases. ChinaFAQs has assembled a collection of resources and statements from official sources, media, and concerned groups regarding the cases, and will continue to monitor developments as they unfold.

ChinaFAQs Expert and Tufts University Professor Kelly Sims Gallagher recently gave a presentation on the global diffusion of cleaner energy technologies at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute. Her presentation offers a preview of her new book on the topic, forthcoming from The MIT Press in 2013. The book identifies the conditions necessary for motivating the international diffusion of cleaner energy technologies, and empirically investigates the extent to which certain barriers and incentives to their movement across international borders are valid in the Chinese context.

After meeting in Russia in early September, representatives of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations, including China and the U.S., reached an agreement on a list of environmental goods on which to cut tariffs to 5 percent or less by 2015.

“The specifics of this case speak most directly to the U.S. solar industry, of course, but also to trade enforcement in general and the U.S. economy more broadly. In this column we will examine the five most common arguments we’ve heard from the antitariff contingent in the U.S. solar industry, and why we think these arguments don’t hold water—drawing larger lessons about the key role of trade enforcement to the health of U.S. companies and our economy.”

“The Obama Administration’s preliminary decision to impose a 31 per cent tariff on solar panels imported from China is short sighted. The move could cause a trade war, hurt the US economy, jeopardize US security interests, and put the world further off course in terms of meeting its global climate change goals.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday announced its preliminary decision that it will impose anti-dumping tariffs of over 31 percent on solar cells imported from China.

Commerce is currently scheduled to make its final determination in early October 2012. At that point, if Commerce makes an affirmative final determination, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes an affirmative final determination that imports of solar cells from China threaten to injure the domestic solar industry, Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order.

ChinaFAQs expert Joanna Lewis, professor at Georgetown University, joined Craig Allen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the Department of Commerce, and Jigar Shah, President of the Coalition for Affordable Energy, for a discussion of U.S.-China clean energy relations at the Woodrow Wilson Center in May as part of the China Environment Forum (CEF).

This ChinaFAQs Issue Brief highlights opportunities in the global clean energy revolution, discusses the comparative strengths of each nation, and provides examples of proposals and policies that the U.S. can employ to seize these opportunities by encouraging clean energy development. The brief stresses that the U.S. should capitalize on its strengths and take a strategic approach to innovation and commercialization. (Click to download)

This ChinaFAQs Issue Brief profiles a selection of recent U.S.-China cooperative projects in clean energy, offering a flavor of the breadth and depth of Sino-American cooperation, as well as potential benefits and challenges.

The watchword in today’s global energy markets is change. This change in part includes the advance of solar and other renewable energy technologies – advances that can boost economic growth, improve energy security, and help address global warming. However, reaping these benefits, and particularly the jobs that go with these global industries, requires a strategic approach to clean technology innovation. This blog discusses how the United States might use an innovation-centered strategy to compete in the increasingly tough global solar power industry.

This week, the U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to issue a preliminary decision on a trade petition filed by SolarWorld Industries America, Inc. SolarWorld alleges that the Chinese have used subsidies to artificially suppress solar panel export prices, and has asked Commerce to levy a duty to eliminate that price discrepancy.

Today I testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission during a hearing on China’s Global Quest for Resources and Implications for the United States. In my testimony, I described the prospects for shale gas in China and its implications for the United States.

The UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa, concluded over the weekend with a consensus to negotiate an agreement that will include all major emitters of warming gases. The conference agreed to a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, extended the work of the group for Long-term Cooperative Action, and most significantly established new negotiations under the Durban Platform. Launching these negotiations was hailed as major progress around the world (Bloomberg, The Statesman, Xinhua). For the first time the world’s three major emitters (by total amount of greenhouse gases emitted), China, the United States and India, have agreed to begin negotiations for an international “protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force,” indicating that there will be actions and efforts by all countries. (For the implications of this complex legal wording, see my colleague Jake Werksman’s discussion on WRI Insights).

The US-China Renewable Energy Partnership (USCREP) is matching US cleantech firms with opportunities in Chinese markets.

The USCREP undertakes tasks in the key areas of improving wind and solar technologies, integrating renewable power with existing electric power grids, developing international standards and testing protocols for new energy technologies, and collaborating on policies to spur advancement of renewable energy technologies.

American companies, such as Boston-based Second Wind, are already benefiting from USCREP-fostered cooperation in terms of potential job creation and expanding exports.

China once again hosted its largest wind power expo, China Wind 2011, surpassing last year’s exhibition with the number of companies and the exhibition floor space increasing by 50%. Not surprisingly for an event in Beijing, the China market continued to be a major focus, but this year there was much more sense of a global market with increasing interest in new emerging markets, in particular Latin America.

In the wake of the Solyndra bankruptcy and amidst reports of an impending trade dispute against China’s solar subsidies, many are asking how US solar manufacturers can possibly compete with Chinese manufacturers. Sure, Chinese solar companies now dominate global solar photovoltaic (PV) markets (see figure below), but that does not mean the US is not still playing an important role in the solar industry. If we just look at how many solar panels are being manufactured here, we miss the more important metric—the total value created by the solar industry in the United States. A significant portion of the revenue from solar projects comes not from manufacturing the panels themselves, but site preparation and system installation, which must be done locally with local jobs.

Aurthors Dr. Jihua Pan, Haibing Ma, and Dr. Ying Zhang discuss the potential for China’s green development strategy to generate jobs in energy, transportation, and forestry in a report published by the Worldwatch Institute.

“Over the past decade, and especially during the 11th Five-Year period of 2006–10, China has prioritized green development in almost all of its leading economic sectors.

China has remained the most attractive destination for clean energy investment for a full year, followed by the U.S., according to the most recent Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices compiled by consulting firm Ernst & Young. The report showed China increasing its rating from 71 to 72 on a 100-point scale last quarter, followed by the U.S. unchanged at 67. As Bloomberg reports, the report attributed China’s gain to its increased focus on offshore wind and concentrated solar power, in addition to new renewable energy targets in its 12th Five Year Plan.

On April 5, 2011, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and ChinaFAQs held a briefing on China’s increasing role in advancing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate policies. China is a leader in the deployment of clean energy technologies, and the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels. The United States and China cooperate on a number of clean energy initiatives, producing benefits for both countries.

Chairman Bingaman, Senator Murkowski, and other members of the Committee, thank you very much for inviting me to testify before you today on the topic of global investment trends in clean energy technologies1, and the impact of domestic policies on that investment. I am Kelly Sims Gallagher, a professor of energy and environmental policy at The Fletcher School, at Tufts University. I direct our program on Energy, Climate, and Innovation, and concurrently serve as a Senior Research Associate at the Belfer Center in the Harvard Kennedy School. I served as a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Management last summer where I conducted research on global energy commercialization, with emphasis on the role of China.

In my testimony today, I will start by discussing both where China is now and its plans for the upcoming five years, and then I will talk about some of the business opportunities this creates for other countries, including the United States, that want to compete in new energy technologies.

China invested $54.4 billion on clean energy in 2010, $20 billion more than the U.S., according to the latest report from Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance released today. This is one-fifth of a global market that is growing at a record 30% pace. The competitive position of the U.S. has “deteriorated” so much that it slipped down to number three in private investment, as small-scale solar installations launched Germany into the number two spot. Pew and Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s take-away: policies matter as China and Germany had strong ones and US policies stagnated.

With the adoption of its Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government has cemented key long-term strategies for greening GDP, controlling energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and key pollutants, and capitalizing on the growing low-carbon economy (full Chinese plan). Environment and climate are given the most prominent position ever in a Five Year Plan, aspirations that will be backed up by a number of concrete planning documents over the coming months.

The draft of China’s much-anticipated 12th Five-Year Plan was released this Saturday, March 5 at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The Plan will actually be brought to a vote at the close of the session later this week. While there may be some changes to the Plan, in past years these have not been large.

China’s annual parliamentary session opened Saturday morning, with 3,000 National People’s Congress members and 2,000 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) gathered in the Great Hall of the People to hear Premier Wen Jiabao deliver the annual report reviewing the work of the government in 2010 and looking forward to the Twelfth Five Year Plan, including key targets of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

China’s annual political meetings begin on Thursday March 3 and the major outcome will be the announcement of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). Votes at both the advisory China People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, opening March 3) and the National People’s Congress (NPC, opening March 5) are not in question. But the content of the Five-Year Plan, as well as various government work reports and major pieces of legislation, are only revealed during the meetings.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on Wednesday, February 16th, to receive testimony from Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu on the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request. In the Chairman’s opening statement, Senator Bingaman (D-NM) said:
“…we actually spend less than China on energy R&D per unit of GDP. China is investing heavily in manufacturing and deploying wind, solar, and nuclear power plants. These investments are already translating into global sales and domestic Chinese jobs in an area where the United States once led the world.”

Energy and water constraints have emerged as critical sustainability issues for China’s economy – particularly if the country is to continue to see significant GDP growth and provide the estimated 10 million jobs needed annually. Asia Water Project recently posed questions about the water-energy nexus to Professor Zou Ji, WRI’s China Country Director, and Lijin Zhong and Hua Wen of WRI’s China Water Team. Their responses are below:

China and the U.S. issued a joint statement Wednesday, January 19, covering the range of issues discussed during President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington this week. The White House also posted a fact sheet summarizing Hu and Obama’s agreement to enhance cooperation on climate change, clean energy, and the environment. The Department of Energy provides further detail on these Clean Energy Cooperation Announcements.

As Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Obama prepare to meet in Washington next week, economic and security issues have been receiving the most attention in recent press. However, the visit also presents an opportunity to discuss climate and energy issues, which have long represented areas for cooperation between the two nations, even amid tensions over other issues. We asked several experts from the ChinaFAQs network to provide their views on what they would like to see result from this summit.

2011 will be a big year for climate and energy policy development in China, so we thought we’d highlight some of the key China energy and climate-related stories to watch out for during the course of the year. We’ve known to expect major developments now for over a year, since China’s commitments made at the Copenhagen climate talks in late 2009 were scheduled to be implemented in the 2011 12th Five Year Plan.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced last week that it has requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement consultations regarding one of the Chinese subsidy programs named in the United Steelworkers petition to USTR. According to USTR, these wind industry subsidies seem to be contingent on the use of parts made in China.

As the first week of negotiations in Cancun concludes, China has been stressing its progress at home. That China takes the climate change issue seriously was the principal message at a recent Cancun event from Su Wei, the Director-General of China’s Climate Change Department under its powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and lead climate negotiator.

As negotiators arrive in Cancun for the next round of global climate talks, speculation once again hovers around China’s positions. China is a tough negotiator, and we can once again see it expressing concern about its core issues, including developed country mitigation commitments, technology transfer and the adequacy of financing. But as we look to negotiating positions, it is also worth stepping back for a minute to reflect on what China is doing domestically and how China’s efforts to promote energy efficiency and low carbon technologies can contribute to the global effort to combat climate change.

Anyone interested in how China can both use coal and ultimately reduce its carbon emissions should read the latest issue of the Atlantic Monthly. James Fallows, who recently spent three years living in China, getting a handle on how things actually work beyond the rhetoric (see his 2009 book Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China), goes deep into the reasons for China’s coal dependence and the way it can be addressed through carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

While the UN climate talks at Tianjin went slowly, a trip to China offered the opportunity for the world to see the successes in wind technology development and deployment experienced there and throughout the region. This progress was highlighted in both a wind-focused side event at the Tianjin conference that Joanna Lewis organized for Georgetown University, and at the annual China Windpower 2010 conference held in Beijing the week after the climate talks.

Download from the link above “Lessons Learned from Guiyang Case”, a presentation by Renmin University’s Wang Ke, Fu Sha and WRI China Country Director Zou Ji from “Tools for a Low-Carbon Pathway in China”, WRI’s Side Event at the UNFCCC conference in Tianjin, China.

Download from the link above “Building up Capacity to Support the Control of Sectoral GHG Emissions: a Case Study for the Cement Industry”, a presentation by WRI’s Song Ranping from “Tools for a Low-Carbon Pathway in China”, WRI’s Side Event at the UNFCCC conference in Tianjin, China.

Download from the link above “Building Low Carbon Provinces and Cities: Practical Tools to Support Local Target Planning”, a presentation by WRI China’s Fong Wee Kean from “Tools for a Low-Carbon Pathway in China”, WRI’s Side Event at the UNFCCC conference in Tianjin, China.

Download from the link above “Low Carbon Development in China: Vision, Issues, and Latest Progresses”, a presentation by WRI China Country Director Zou Ji from “Tools for a Low-Carbon Pathway in China”, WRI’s Side Event at the UNFCCC conference in Tianjin, China.

Having the intercessional UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in China this week – the last stop before ministers and heads of state meet in Cancun for the sixteenth Conference of Parties (COP-16) – provides a timely opportunity for participants to witness firsthand elements of China’s clean energy and climate policies in action.

The U.S. energy regulatory system is “a relic of the 1860s”, according to Jeff Immelt, Chairman of GE, one of the World’s largest manufacturers of new clean energy technology. In a conference in Washington, DC last week, he urged the U.S. government to take positive action in the United States to support clean technology. Yes, said Immelt, China is a competitor, but not just China. Countries such as Canada and Australia also “have much simpler regulatory structures for energy and are moving more quickly.”

Climate change was not the big news it was a year ago at the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED). This is not surprising given that China made its major commitment on emissions reductions – its 40-45% carbon intensity target by 2020 – last year and US climate legislation is pending in the Senate. But many of the key players on climate change, including Secretary of State Clinton, her Climate Negotiator Todd Stern, and Department of Energy Assistant Secretary David Sandalow, were at the meeting. Energy Secretary Steven Chu stayed in the US to address the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but his Department co-hosted three major bilateral seminars on energy efficiency, renewable energy and biofuels after the S&ED.

China is rolling out policies, subsidies and R&D programs aimed at encouraging the large-scale deployment of solar technologies – including a joint project with an American company to build the world’s largest solar electricity plant in the Mongolian desert.

China is already the world’s largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells, but most are exported. Now, it is moving to expand its domestic market.

China’s solar push is part of a larger effort to get at least 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh described the “Copenhagen Spirit” as substantially improving ties between China and India and leading to improved cooperation in related environmental areas, including hydrographic data, glaciological research and forestry. He expressed hope that an MOU signed last fall on energy technologies would yield some concrete projects, but admitted those opportunities had yet to be explored.

In late November 2009, China announced its intention to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions within the Chinese economy by 40-45% by 2020, as compared with a 2005 baseline. China then reported this goal to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat on January 28, 2010.

This announcement, coming on the heels of the United States’ announced pledge of a 17% reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2020, garnered a great deal of attention within both the US and internationally, with experts weighing in with both approval and doubts about China’s ambition.i

To enhance understanding of China’s commitment, we provide answers to the major questions related to the Chinese carbon intensity target below.

WRI and Renmin University hosted a joint seminar with Lord Nicholas Stern and his colleagues from the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute, on Thursday, March 25, in Beijing, during which Lord Stern and some of Beijing’s leading climate change scholars discussed current efforts to mitigate climate change and the challenge of maintaining global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees centigrade.

ChinaFAQs Experts Rob Bradley, Jennifer Turner, Stephen Hammer, and Angel Hsu testified before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on April 8 to lend insight into both China’s domestic and international Green Energy and Environmental Policies.

See the Library & Data section for the complete testimonies of all four experts, or follow the links below:

This year looks to be the biggest Earth Hour thus far for the World Wildlife Fund in China. The WWF announced earlier this week that Beijing’s Forbidden City would be among the noted monuments around the world to go dark for the annual one-hour event on March 27 to raise environmental awareness. WWF China Director Dermot O’Gorman told me that hundreds of community organizations have signed on to participate, and the program now has 30 cities signed on in China almost double last year’s number. O’Gorman said cities like Earth Hour as a way to “show how they contribute to a global effort to raise awareness,” as well as linking the event to their energy efficiency campaigns.

There has been a lot of concern in the media (see Green Inc. and Washington Post articles) and in the U.S. Senate recently about stimulus grants for wind energy projects going to China and other foreign countries. On March 3rd, a group of Senators called for the suspension of the renewables grant program until rules had been passed that made sure projects used American components and labor. But there is more to that story than meets the eye.

Empirical evidence demonstrates that predictable support for wind power improves local manufacturing capacity and creates local jobs. Consistent support in the form of the stimulus and long term programs such as a Renewable Energy Standard will give investors the certainty they need to plan and create jobs in the United States.

In November 2007, the MOST and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly launched the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program on New and Renewable Energy. The program’s goals are twofold: diversifying the sources of technology imports, and expediting technology transfer processes between China and other countries. The program has identified five priority technologies for international collaboration.

Complementing the 863 Program, which focuses on specific technologies, is the National Basic Research Program, also called the “973 Program.” Since its inception, core focuses of the 973 program have been energy, natural resources conservation, and environmental protection. From 1998 to 2008, the program supported 382 projects with a total funding level of 8.2 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), of which 28% went to energy, natural resources conservation and environmental protection.

Also known as the State High-Tech Development Plan, the 863 Program was created to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields in order to render China independent of financial obligations for foreign technologies. The program has changing focuses and priorities, depending on the needs of national economic development. During the 11th Five Year Plan, the 863 program set up 10 focus areas, including energy technologies. Within the energy category there are four technology priorities: hydrogen and fuel cell, energy efficiency, clean coal and renewable energy. A total of 1.12 billion yuan ($172 million) has been invested in these priorities, with hydrogen and efficiency technologies receiving the majority of funding.

In the past five years government R&D appropriations have increased dramatically, from 70.3 billion yuan ($11 bil) in 2001 to 168.9 billion yuan ($26 bil) in 2006. As a result, the share of R&D in total government expenditure increased from 3.7% to 4.2% from 2001 - 2006 (MOST 2007). Among the various publicly-funded S&T programs, the 863 & 973 programs provide the most direct funding sources for clean technologies.

China’s policies to prioritize, fund and deploy clean technology R&D and innovation over the short and medium term stem from an ambition to emerge as a global power in science and technology through clean technology R&D and innovation.

Its been a while since we've had an extensive discussion of China's solar market. Here, we catch up with some of the major the developments in this space over the past half year or so -- A new US-China dynamic highlighted by two-large scale projects, policy action by provincial-level governments, and lots of activity by Chinese solar poster child Suntech, and more!

I am very honored to participate in the famous Guanghua New Year Forum at Peking University. I was tasked by Professor Zhang Weiying to brief you about the Copenhagen Conference and the issues regarding low-carbon development. Climate change is a global issue, affecting the long-term development of each country, and requires strengthening international cooperation and adopting a fair and reasonable approach to solve. In 1990 the United Nations General Assembly established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. In 1994 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change took effect. In 2005 the Kyoto Protocol took effect. In 2007 the Bali Road Map came into being, and last year the Copenhagen meeting took place. All these events witnessed the historical process of forming and coalescing international consensus on climate change issues. In the recently-concluded Copenhagen meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao comprehensively expounded China’s policies, measures, achievements and initiatives to address climate change issues. He reached out to leaders from relevant countries, and played a critical role in breaking the deadlocks of the negotiations.

For those tracking China climate and energy information, you might want to take a look at these blog entries. Blogger Vance Wagner has just updated his organizational chart for the Chinese government to try to capture the new National Energy Commission under the State Council. This chart is still a work in progress, and Vance says he welcomes comments on how to improve it, but it is extremely useful for seeing who is connected to whom in the Chinese government.

China has submitted its proposed climate mitigation actions to the UNFCCC in a letter dated January 28, ahead of the January 31, 2010 deadline in the Copenhagen Accord. Given Premier Wen Jiabao’s hands-on role, along with President Obama and the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa, in creating the Accord last month, it is encouraging to see China demonstrate its commitment to moving global climate negotiations forward.

In its letter, China reaffirmed its earlier announcement of policies to: (1) reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020 from 2005 levels, (2) increase the share of non-fossil energy in its primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020, and (3) increase forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters by 2020 from 2005 levels. China noted that these actions will be implemented in accordance with the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC.

“TIANJIN, China — China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.

China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.

These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.”

As provided for in last month’s Copenhagen Accord, China has now submitted its “mitigation actions” (click HERE to see the text of the letter in our ChinaFAQs Library). While there was much speculation as to which actions China would submit, in the end China has reported the full set of measures first announced by President Hu Jintao at the United Nations in November 2009, and then amplified by the State Council decision on the 40-45% carbon intensity target at the end of November.

If you’d asked us a few weeks ago, we might have said that China was charging ahead in wind and in solar photovoltaics, but was not a big player in the emerging technology of concentrating solar power. That has now changed dramatically. Last week U.S. company eSolar announced a $5 billion, 2 GW deal with Chinese company China Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. If eSolar and partners succeed this will be the largest set of concentrating solar plants anywhere in the world.

Since the Copenhagen Conference the Chinese government has engaged in international debate on the meeting’s meaning, but the external tumult does not appear to have affected its efforts to move forward on policies to reduce carbon intensity.

China’s announcement signals its commitment both to the climate conference in Copenhagen, and its intent to achieve significant domestic emissions reductions.

As we head for our turkeys, the news this morning is that China unveiled its goal to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit GDP (its carbon intensity) by 40-45% by 2020, compared with 2005.

When Chinese President Hu Jintao made the first speech by a Chinese leader to the United Nations General Assembly back in September he signaled that China would be announcing a target to reduce its carbon intensity by a “notable amount” relative to business as usual but did not reveal the actual number. Since then there has been much speculation as to what the “notable amount” that President Hu suggested would be.

This week, the talk has become more specific with reports that China will release its number over Thanksgiving weekend, partly in response to President Obama’s announcement today that the United States will in fact bring a numerical target to Copenhagen. The White House press release stated “the President is prepared to put on the table a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020.”

President Obama and his team look like they’ve had a productive day in Beijing, even if Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had to remind the media that the Obama team was not expecting “that the waters would part and everything would change over our almost two-and-a-half day trip to China.” The just-released U.S.-China Joint Statement is almost encyclopedic in its coverage of the challenges facing these two world leaders, with commitments to work together more closely on them.

With President Obama’s arrival in Beijing this afternoon, discussions of climate and energy are in high gear. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steve Chu kicked off bilateral discussions with a roundtable at the Chinese State Guest House with their Chinese government counterparts from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Energy Administration, as well as a group of Chinese and American businesspeople, academics and NGOs.

This headline surprised me this week: “China Outperforms U.S. on Green,” especially when I discovered that it was a piece in the New Scientist about our own WRI report on China. The commentator implies WRI’s report shows China is way ahead of the U.S., when in fact we present an argument simply that China is following its own pretty effective path. China is still struggling with air and water pollution issues, and its situation is akin to the United States in the early 1970s when we were just bringing into effect our major air and water laws, as well as establishing the Environmental Protection Agency.

The big wind deal announced shortly thereafter was actually not in China, but in the United States. A Chinese-U.S. consortium announced a $1.5 billion 600 MW wind project in West Texas to be financed mainly by Chinese banks. Not surprisingly, this project has turned out to be controversial in the United States, with many questions about how many jobs will be created in each country.

Even more international interest was focused on U.S.-China trade talks last week. China’s official news agency Xinhua greeted the talks’ completion with the headline: “China, U.S. pledge no new trade protection measures.” Since the Chinese worry about climate-related trade measures, this reassurance is important to bringing both countries closer to a climate deal. Similarly, the U.S. worries about Chinese domestic controls and subsidies, and the Chinese agreed to lift an important control on green technology imports. Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming announced that China would no longer impose a 70% domestic content requirement on foreign wind turbine producers in China.

In recent weeks climate change has certainly been one of the major stories in China, although not the top one. The big focus this month has been on Beijing’s 60th birthday party, October 1, the anniversary of when the Communists officially defeated the Nationalists and marched into Beijing back in 1949. Other than the climate negotiators in Bangkok, the parade marchers and those in the travel industry, the country took a giant vacation and an astonishing 228 million travelers hit the road (or rails or air) (see More than 228 mln Chinese travel during eight-day holidays). Xinhua reports this as a 28% increase over a year ago, suggesting both increased confidence in an economy bolstered by stimulus, and the fact that this was an especially big anniversary.

Erica S. Downs is a Fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. Previously, she worked as an energy analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, and a lecturer at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Princeton University and a B.S. from Georgetown University.

Meredydd Evans is an energy policy and finance expert with 17 years of international experience. She has worked on energy efficiency and clean energy policies and projects in numerous countries. She is a senior staff scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which she is managing a program on international sustainable energy, including efforts on greenhouse gas mitigation, building energy codes, district heating and clean energy investments. She began working at PNNL in 1994, and she was seconded to the International Energy Agency in Paris from 2002-2006.

Trevor Houser, visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, is partner at the Rhodium Group (RHG) and director of its Energy and Climate Practice. He is also an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York and a visiting fellow at the school’s Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies. During 2009 he served as senior advisor to the US Special Envoy on Climate Change. His areas of research include energy markets, climate change, and the role emerging Asian countries play in both. He is author most recently of The Economics of Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2009), Structuring a Green Recovery: Evaluating Policy Options for an Economic Stimulus Package (2009), Leveling the Carbon Playing Field: International Competition and US Climate Policy Design (2008), and China Energy: A Guide for the Perplexed (2007).

Shieh - Tsing “ST” Hsieh has a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering. Dr. Hsieh has been affiliated with Tulane University in New Orleans since 1974. He headed the Electrical Engineering Department from 1986 - 1992, and currently manages the U.S./China Energy and Environmental Technology Center jointly operated by Tulane and the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a native of Taiwan, ROC, and fluent in Mandarin Chinese. ST is an advisor to the Science and Technology Commission of the People’s Republic of China and consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy, among others.

Dr. Kammen is the Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy at the University of California, Berkeley, with parallel appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the department of Nuclear Engineering. He serves as an Environment and Climate Partnership for the Americas (ECPA) Fellow for Secretary of State Hilary R. Clinton.

Kammen is the founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), Co-Director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment, and Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center.

David Kline is the Manager of the Market and Policy Impact Analysis Group in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He also manages NREL’s work in support of the U.S.-China Renewable Energy Partnership, one of the cooperative programs that grew out of visits to China by President Obama in 2009. Before coming to NREL in 1991, he led the natural gas planning and forecasting group at the California Energy Commission and worked in the corporate planning office of the Natomas Company.

His research is focused on international energy policy, with an emphasis on China, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa; China’s Village Electrification Program; Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention; and Greenhouse gas mitigation.

He holds a B.S. in mathematics from Stanford University and a
M.S. and Ph.D. in management science and engineering from Stanford University.

Bo Kong is the ConocoPhillips Petroleum Professor of Chinese and Asian Studies and Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies.

He is also Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Senior Associate in the Energy and National Security Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), member of the Advisory Board for the Revenue Watch Institute, member of the International Editorial Board for the Universiti of Kebangsaan Malaysia’ journal—JEBAT: Mal

Dept. of International and Area Studies
Cate Center 4bo.kong@ou.edu
(405) 325-1584

Joanna Lewis is an associate professor in the Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA) Program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Her research focuses on energy, environment and innovation in China, including renewable energy industry development and climate change policy. She is currently leading a National Science Foundation-funded project on International Partnerships and Technological Leapfrogging in China’s Clean Energy Sector. Her recent book, Green Innovation in China: China’s Wind Power Industry and the Global Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy was the winner of the 2014 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award by the International Studies Association for best book of the year in environmental studies. Dr. Lewis is a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report and a visiting faculty affiliate with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s China Energy Group. She has worked with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Asia Society, and the Energy Foundation China Sustainable Energy Program, among other governmental, non-governmental and international organizations, and has been a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, the Wilson Center and the East West Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University.

Haibing Ma is Manager of the Worldwatch Institute’s China Program. A native Chinese, Ma’s primary focus is on China-related topics. His priority research and management areas at Worldwatch are clean energy and climate change, including an initiative to explore green economy potentials and impacts in China. Ma is also working closely with Worldwatch’s partners in China to explore the role of unconventional gas and to initiate renewable energy mapping programs at the provincial and local levels.

Mackay Miller is a Senior Research Analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, USA, where he manages international collaborations with China, Mexico, India, and South Africa. His areas of focus include grid integration of renewable energy, smart grid deployment, and policy and regulatory issues across the clean energy spectrum. He coordinates several bilateral and multilateral initiatives including the US-China Renewable Energy Partnership and 21st Century Power Partnership. He also leads NREL support for the International Smart Grid Action Network and coordinates the Clean Energy Regulators Initiative. His recent publications include “Flexibility in 21st Century Power Systems,” “Market Evolution: Wholesale Electricity Market Design for 21st Century Power Systems” and “RES-E-NEXT: Next Generation RES-E Policy.” He holds an MBA from the University of Colorado, and a BA in International Relations from Brown University.

Jonathan Moch is a Graduate Research Fellow at the Harvard China Project and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences with Harvard’s Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group. Jonathan’s research interests center on the interactions and feedbacks between climate change and atmospheric chemistry, with a particular focus on China.

He co-leads an ongoing initiative that integrates research across fields at Harvard, Tsinghua University, and Nanjing University to evaluate the economic costs and environmental benefits of Chinese national emission control policies. An initial version linked the Project’s research in economics, environmental engineering, and health science to assess taxes on air pollution weighted by health damages, presented in Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution in China (2007, MIT Press).

Monisha Shah is a Senior Energy Analyst with the International and Environmental Studies Group in the Strategic Energy Analysis and Applications Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Her research is focused on international and domestic climate change policy, intersections between energy, environment, and economics, and building capacity in developing countries to conduct analysis of policy measures which reduce GHGs and local emissions.

Dr. Elizabeth J. Wilson is an Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy and Law at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She holds a doctorate in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and masters in Human Ecology from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium. Her research focuses on the development of carbon-managed energy systems. Recent work examines the regulatory and legal contexts for the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technologies and evaluation of energy efficiency programs in consumer-owned utilities. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota she worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

University of Minnesota
Humphrey School of Public Affairsewilson@umn.edu
(612) 626-4410

Ailun Yang is a Senior Associate on WRI’s major emerging economies team, where she leads the efforts to build the case for low-carbon development in a number of major developing countries such as China and India. In this capacity, she is tasked to design, plan, and execute research and policy analysis in order to influence national debates and build the evidence base to accelerate clean technology deployment and sustainable low-carbon development. Her current work focus is on the global coal market and China’s power sector.